Think this is the best section for this but basically I came across a bunch of old Motorola SCADA stuff
INTRAC 2000 MRTU Basic Modules
and
INTRAC 2000 SI-8 Status Input
anyone know anything about these things? they came with VHF Maxtracs which were re purposed but it would be neat to use these for something... had no luck finding any datasheets/info about them online
Motorla INTRAC (SCADA) stuff anyone?
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Re: Motorla INTRAC (SCADA) stuff anyone?
You'll need a master station PC with the software loaded. Finding *that* could be a trick.
Re: Motorla INTRAC (SCADA) stuff anyone?
would you need that to just decode?
I would like to just use the boxes to receive telemetry from multiple repeater sites/voters etc...
I have tons of them so would love to do something besides strip them for LEDs and voltage regulators
but I have a feeling like that won't be possible
I would like to just use the boxes to receive telemetry from multiple repeater sites/voters etc...
I have tons of them so would love to do something besides strip them for LEDs and voltage regulators
but I have a feeling like that won't be possible
Re: Motorla INTRAC (SCADA) stuff anyone?
Yep. Part of the problem is there were not a lot of these installed, and the ones that were sold were done by Motorola engineers. The local radio shop and electricians did all the physical construction. Then MOT sent in their guys to make it work. And they liked to hold their cards close to their vest. They left behind as-built docs and some instructions on how to drive the thing, but not a lot of explanation of how it worked. After that, the customer either maintained it themselves, or they had the radio shop do it by swapping out black boxes and mailing them to MOT for repair.
But, they didn't break that often. They were pretty robust. So, not a lot of experts around. The guy who helped put it in is gone, or he's forgotten everything. They would stay in service for twenty years or so, and then the customer would hire an engineering group to upgrade to the next generation of equipment, and all this stuff would show up on the used market minus a lot of the important things that made the original system fly. Like the docs, and the PC.
Sometimes they has a simpler system that reported to a desktop encoder / decoder box that looked like a 1990's paging encoder. It had a numeric keypad to enter commands, and a single line display to show the response. You needed the printed piece of paper that told you what it all meant. If you were lucky, they kept the as-builts and the manuals so you could reconstruct that piece of paper, and maybe make some changes.
You'll also need the programming software to configure the mrtu's and i/o modules, and probably need an old dos box to run it since it was meant to run on computers before Windows was around. A 386 would be nice.
It's not an impossible project, but it will be challenging.
But, they didn't break that often. They were pretty robust. So, not a lot of experts around. The guy who helped put it in is gone, or he's forgotten everything. They would stay in service for twenty years or so, and then the customer would hire an engineering group to upgrade to the next generation of equipment, and all this stuff would show up on the used market minus a lot of the important things that made the original system fly. Like the docs, and the PC.
Sometimes they has a simpler system that reported to a desktop encoder / decoder box that looked like a 1990's paging encoder. It had a numeric keypad to enter commands, and a single line display to show the response. You needed the printed piece of paper that told you what it all meant. If you were lucky, they kept the as-builts and the manuals so you could reconstruct that piece of paper, and maybe make some changes.
You'll also need the programming software to configure the mrtu's and i/o modules, and probably need an old dos box to run it since it was meant to run on computers before Windows was around. A 386 would be nice.
It's not an impossible project, but it will be challenging.